Other Worlds
by Gigi Galaxie
Summary: (Dark Tower, Day After Tomorrow) Set in the world of the Day After Tomorrow, Jake deals with the strange weather hitting New York.


This was written for the "Day After Tomorrow Challenge" which said to crossover any fandom with the "Day After Tomorrow" movie. All stories were to be done before the movie opened on May 28th, 2004. So suffice to say, I wrote this before seeing the movie so any mistakes are purely my own from only having seen the short movie trailers.  
  
Set in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I do not own the characters and are using them without permission. Contains some naughty language.  
  
Other Worlds  
  
By Gigi Galaxie  
  
"I remember dying," he told her. "Twice."  
  
He was quite drunk. His eyes were half-lidded and staring off into the distance. She was also drunk, laying against his chest. She almost laughed at his absurd remark.  
  
"The first time was when I was living here in New York." His words came out slow. Even through the numb buzz, he could feel the pain of the memories returning. "I was eleven then and on my way to school. The 'Great and Wonderful' Piper School. I remember..."  
  
...the intersection of Fifth and Forty Third. Standing on the curb waiting for the light to turn. The crowd of people around him. The nearby pretzel vendor setting up for the day. The boombox playing "Dr. Love" by Kiss. And the large Cadillac barreling down the road.  
  
It all happened in split seconds. He was pushed. Pushed from the curb. The oncoming Cadillac hit and crushed him beneath its tires. Lights faded from gray to black. Black as the robes of the so-called priest that came to his side as he died.  
  
"That was the first time."  
  
She listened to his story. Now the urge to laugh was gone. There was something chilling about the way he spoke. "Jake?" she asked as he paused.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I...?" Her voice trailed off as she found nothing to say. Jake reached over for another beer. She watched as his eyes clouded over. His blue eyes had aged beyond the rest of him. They looked 50 years old while the rest of him remained 18. She didn't like that look.  
  
He took a long drink before resuming. The more he talked, the more she wanted him to stop. But she kept silent, listening with horrible fascination.  
  
"The second time...he let me fall. Under the mountain as we chased after the man in black. And you know what? I knew he would. Isn't that the craziest shit you ever heard? I knew he would kill me to get to what he wanted and I still went with him. Fuckin' bastard. But you want to know the truth? I love him. I really do. I don't hate him for what he did. I don't hate myself for allowing it. Because of ka."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Ka. It's...ka. Like destiny. You know what, Allie?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's all about ka. Everything."  
  
They fucked later that night. Not with passion or love but just a physical act of two drunken people wanting to get off. There was something cold about the way he held her. She never pretended that what they had was love. He was a kid to her. A messed up kid she took in and somehow found a connection with. A physical one as well as a strange spiritual one.  
  
She laid in bed that night, absently rubbing the old corkscrew scar on her forehead. Jake had drifted off, or passed out, beside her. He murmured in his restless sleep.  
  
"Go then," he kept whispering. "Go then..."  
  
They watched the news together with growing unease. Jake seemed even more disturbed by what he saw. Something in the world was shifting. Changing. Becoming violent.  
  
"...incredible footage of what seem to be giant tornados..."  
  
"....horrible pictures from a devastating earthquake that killed thousands..."  
  
Allie curled in close to Jake. "What's going on? What the hell is happening to us?" she said.  
  
Jake remained silent. But his eyes were wide in fear. For the first time in a long time, he was dead sober.  
  
It was coming. A wall of water unimaginable. And it was heading straight for New York City. They stood together on the roof of her building, both watching the distance and waiting.  
  
"There's nothing we can do, is there?" Allie asked. Her words were shaky. He felt her thin frame tremble.  
  
"No," Jake replied. "There's nothing we can do. But somewhere out there, there is someone who can. I just hope that he makes it in time."  
  
"I don't want to die." Tears streamed down her cheeks. Soon she was wracked with uncontrollable sobs. He just held her and watched the horizon.  
  
"There is something wrong with the Tower," he said. "It's making the world fall apart. It's not the dying I'm afraid of. I've already done that. Twice. But if something happened with the Tower...  
  
"If Roland failed..."  
  
He stopped. Out there, far in the distance, he could see it. A wall of water rushing towards them. It seemed so small. So harmless.  
  
"Nineteen!" Allie suddenly cried out. "Nineteen!"  
  
"Th' fuck?"  
  
Allie turned and threw her arms around him. She buried her face in his chest to shield her eyes. "Don't leave me, Jake. Please...take me with you. Wherever you go next, take me with you. I don't want this to be it. I don't...I don't want to die."  
  
He hugged her tightly as he continued to watch the tidal wave. Time was running out. Allie's sobs grew more hysterical. Her words nonsensical. He felt the rhythm of his heart pound and falter with fear. This world was falling apart. What if all worlds were falling apart? What if ka itself was being destroyed?  
  
What if Roland lost his precious Tower? And with that, all realities?  
  
These thoughts filled him with more terror than the sight of the death that rushed towards them.  
  
Allie was screaming. Only seconds left to go. A deafening roar filled the air unlike anything he had ever heard before. Jake held onto Allie as tight as he could. The water smashed through the buildings before them, hurdling at them with incredible speed. He felt the spray of icy water reach for him like cold fingers of Death. A smile suddenly spread across his face. There was a steely glint in his eyes.  
  
Roland would have understood.  
  
"You will not kill me!" he shouted defiantly at Death. "There are other worlds than these!"

END 


End file.
